TheChurchMilitant

Monday, October 23, 2006

Wesley Snipes stars in 'The Fugitive'.

E! Online: Snipes Found in Brangelina Country

Call off the manhunt, we have a Wesley Snipes spotting.

A Namibian film official has announced that the actor, currently wanted on charges of tax fraud in the U.S., has been in the African country for the past two months shooting a movie.

"It is confirmed," Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission, told Reuters. "He has been in Namibia since the end of August."

According to the wire service, Snipes has been filming Gallowwalker in the desert near Swakopmund, the same coastal town that was home to a prenatal Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the run-up to their daughter Shiloh's birth last spring.

The Blade badass was indicted on eight counts of tax fraud in Florida earlier this week for allegedly failing to file tax returns for six years and for seeking $12 million in fraudulent refunds from the federal government.

If convicted, Snipes could face up to 16 years in prison—hardly an incentive to rush back to the States. And as luck would have it for the on-the-lam star, Namibia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. and, accordingly, is not expected to take any action to send the 44-year-old actor home to be tried.

Sweet. If it's good enough for Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, it's good enough for Wesley.

And the exchange rate is fantastic!

The White Men Can't Jump star was indicted along with two other men, Eddie Ray Kahn, who, per the feds, "promoted and sold fraudulent tax schemes," and Douglas Rosile, an accountant who worked for Kahn.

The duo reportedly told Snipes that thanks to a loophole in the tax code, something Kahn deemed the "861 Argument," the actor would only be responsible for paying taxes on wages he earned outside the U.S. Needless to say, the loophole does not exist.

Even if there is no constitutional justification for the income tax, you still gotta pay, Wes.

There is no constitutional justification for limiting campaign spending either. In fact, the US Constitution specifically prohibits such limits on political speech. But when the three branches agree, that old piece of paper doesn't mean a thing. He who has the guns makes the rules.

Based on the fraudulent—and potentially costly—logic, Snipes opted not to file tax returns from 1999 to 2004, during which he did not make any money from foreign sources, and also sought a $12 million refund on taxes he previously paid.

Federal officials issued an arrest warrant for the actor last week after being unable to locate him. According to the indictment, prosecutors attempted to contact Snipes over the course of several years to straighten out his legal mess, only to receive phony documentation from his accountants.

Should Snipes, who has a well-documented aversion to any kind of tax, be it income or property, decide to return to the States and surrender, he'd be the second of the indicted threesome to be taken into custody.

Rosile, who filed the phony tax forms on behalf of the actor, has already turned himself in. Kahn, meanwhile, has reportedly hightailed it to Panama.

It Takes A Village To Staff A Gestapo Unit Update. (Three of Four)

Q: Why is this a Hitlery Schicklgruber (N-NY) story?

AFP: US Senator Barack Obama now considering White House run
Senator Barack Obama, a rising star of the Democratic party, said he is considering running for the US presidency in 2008.

A: If Senator Token has changed his mind about 2008, he must smell some serious weakness emanating from The Smartest Bust In The World and he must have some polling numbers to back it up.

It Takes A Village To Staff A Gestapo Unit Update. (Two of Four)

Babylon wears many disguises, man. But its face is always in a permanent screw. That helps you spot it.

New York Daily News: Hillary enemies find her cross just unbearable

La Schicklgruber (N-NY) violates a whole Rose-law-firm-filing-cabinet-full of EPA standards by frequently wearing asbestos sweaters.

Hillary Clinton has appeared a handful of times this summer and fall with a cross around her neck, and it's an image that touches a nerve with the people who hate her.

But Clinton is among the most religious Protestants seeking the presidency in 2008. If she gets the Democratic nod, she could well be matched against a less openly devout Republican.

Heehee! One of the most religious prods in the 2008 race is a babykilling nazi ghoul with a totalitarian fetish. That doesn't say a whole heck of a lot for for the denominations of heresy and schism, does it, kiddies?

"She's actually the real deal, although a lot of people don't think of her as religious," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in Washingon.

HEEHEE! Is this an Onion story?

Clinton, a Methodist like President Bush, though from a more liberal wing of that church, has appeared publicly wearing a cross intermittently during her time in the Senate. Her aides didn't respond to questions about whether she is wearing the symbol more now than in the past.

She should be thankful she doesn't burst into flame every time she puts one on.

But her faith has been part of her public character since she taught Sunday school as the First Lady of Arkansas and was an active member of a Washington church as First Lady.

OH PUH-LEEEEEEEZE! Not the Sunday school teacher one again! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

The Atlantic Monthly reported recently that she's a member of an elite prayer group of about a dozen senators, including conservative Republicans like Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback whose Christianity is central to their politics.

Rick Santorum doesn't need to wear his crucifix. He votes like a good Catholic.

If Hitlery behaved like a Christian (Stay with me here, you prods. I know this smacks of good works, but just think for a minute.) instead of a bloodthirsty left-fascist thug, fewer people would doubt her sincerity.

Of course, if wishes were horses...

Clinton's public displays of faith anger her critics, who see her as an opportunist - more than 800 people wrote comments, most of them attacking her, below her photograph on the Daily News political blog.

But her public devotion is in striking contrast with many of the front-runners vying for President, and particularly the Republicans, most of whom are quite distant from the born-again Christian faiths of their most energetic partisans.

Rudy Giuliani is a Catholic on his third marriage. Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, not a mainstream Protestant. Sen. John McCain is an Episcopalian who has kept his faith out of his public life to the degree that longtime adviser Marshall Wittman said he wasn't sure whether the senator attends church.

Repansycans, all.

"Sen. McCain goes to church every Sunday that he can. He is devout, but very private about it," said McCain spokeswoman Elaine McMenamin, who offered to put a reporter in touch with McCain's pastor.

It Takes A Village To Staff A Gestapo Unit Update. (One of Four)

US Senatrix Hitlery Schicklgruber (N-NY) (see courtroom sketch artist portrait above) is leaving creepy pro-murder recorded messages on California answering machines.

I cannot say I'm surprised.

The New York Sun: In Abortion Battle, Both Sides Claim Clinton Backing

SAN FRANCISCO — Senator Clinton is lending her voice, quite literally, to a campaign to defeat a California ballot initiative that would require teenage girls seeking abortions to notify a parent or get a waiver from a judge.

About 250,000 Californians received automated phone messages yesterday in which Mrs. Clinton warned about the dangers of the proposed parental notification law, according to opponents of the measure, which goes before voters next month as Proposition 85.

Ha! "Automated". Fascism by remote-control.

"We are opposed because 85 will put our most vulnerable teens at risk — teens who may already be endangered by negligent or even abusive homes," Mrs. Clinton says in the audio recording. "We can do better. Let's work together to protect all our children."

Except for the ones who need to be chopped up, of course.

Supporters of the measure contend that Mrs. Clinton's active involvement in a campaign taking place thousands of miles from New York undercuts an effort she made early last year to articulate a more centrist stance on abortion in advance of a possible presidential bid in 2008.

"It looks like Hillary's moving pretty far to the other side now," a spokesman for the Yes on 85 effort, Albin Rhomberg, said. "It also shows that Hillary is quite fickle. She seems to want to please whatever the winds are or the tide at the time."

York, PA can't handle the truth.

Another win for Big Babykilling...

York Daily Record: YWCA rejects Grove's anti-babykilling float

Despite what has become something of an unsavory (Behold the bias inherent in the system. - F.G.) tradition, the Rev. Jim Grove's pictures of aborted fetuses won't be part of this year's Halloween Parade.

The pastor of Loganville's Heritage Baptist Church received his rejection letter from parade organizers Wednesday.

This year marks the first time the event hasn't been hosted by the City of York. Rather, the YWCA has taken over the duty. Because the YWCA is a private organization, Grove isn't afforded the same First Amendment protections to participate as he does under a government-sponsored event.

Unless you are the Boy Scouts...or a country club...or are anywhere to the right of Ghoul Soros...

Grove said his float theme was in line with the spirit of Halloween, a holiday he argues is about Satanic worship. His proposed float would have been called "The devil's ultimate handiwork. Slash and Burn" and would have included grisly photos.

Nice.

Find some pleasant abortion photos and publish them. I'm sure the vast you-know-what has them hidden in Cheyenne Mountain.

"My attempt to meet the requirements was aborted, I guess," Grove said.
Despite critics' attempts to keep him out in the past, Grove's anti-abortion floats - last year, it was called Baby Disposal Service - have become a fixture in the parade.

Leslie Bentz, a YWCA spokeswoman, said the organization had no comment on Grove's application nor on the other two rejected applicants, whom she has declined to name.

Rather, she said, the emphasis should be on the 100 applications that have been accepted.

What a tool.

"We are focusing on the parade being a community event that the entire family will enjoy," she said.

Instant translation: "Pay no attention to the dead babies behind the curtain!"

Instead of being in the parade, Grove said, he will march on the public access of the sidewalk. He will also carry the photos and pass out literature.

"I assume the police will afford me the 14th Amendment right of equal protection under the law," Grove said.

I wouldn't bet on it, pal.

DAY 61: PLUTO HELD HOSTAGE

AP: Teachers say Pluto planet downgrade is teachable

Ha! Good luck with that.

The bad science of the Air Nazis starve children and devastate the economy.

The Morning Call: Mack to lay off 450

Mack Trucks announced plans Friday to lay off more than 40 percent of the workers at its Lower Macungie Township plant, as the highly cyclical truck manufacturing industry heads into another downturn.

Well, not exactly, kiddies.

The Allentown company said it will cut 450 of 1,040 workers at the plant, which makes construction and garbage trucks. The first of the layoffs will take place before Thanksgiving, and the rest will follow in 2007...

Why?

The recent surge in demand was driven by new U.S. emission standards that are expected to increase prices as much as $7,500 per $100,000 truck as of Jan. 1.

Customers have rushed to buy cheaper trucks before they are taken off the market. With their fleets replenished, there will be little demand for the new, more expensive trucks next year.

Retarded vote-buying politicians and pseudo-science: always a deadly combination.

''This is very much a regulatory-driven buying cycle, and it's specific to the truck industry,'' said Jim Mele, editor of Fleet Owner magazine.

The resulting downturn will last at least through fall of next year, but perhaps longer, depending on the economy, he said.

''They've been going full tilt, and now sales are just going to drop off the table,'' he said. ''That's a tough thing to manage.''

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. John of Capistrano, Franciscan, missionary, preacher, and lawyer. He is the patron saint of jurists. At the age of seventy, was commissioned by Pope Callistus II to preach and lead a crusade against the invading Turks. Marching at the head of seventy thousand Christians, he gained victory in the great battle of Belgrade against the Turks in 1456 three months before he died.

Today's reading for the Feast of St. John of Capistrano is 2 Corinthians 5:14-20.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 9:57-62.

Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome

Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.

St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from Christ's side, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; O good Jesus, hear me; Within Thy wounds hide me; Suffer me not to be separated from Thee; From the malicious enemy defend me; In the hour of my death call me; And bid me come unto Thee; That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)

Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer For Vocations

Send forth your Spirit, Lord, into the hearts of your faithful people, that we may be conscious of our vocation to holiness and sevice to others. Grant that many of us may dedicate ourselves to You through the priesthood and the religious life.We pray especially for the needs of our own parish and diocese. Grant that we may always have sufficient good and holy priests, and dedicated Sisters to serve our commumities.We pray, too, for religious orders; that generous men may join them to become zealous missionaries in preaching the Gospel in word and action, especially to the poor and abandoned.We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.

Prayer Before The Crucifix

Behold, O kind and gentle Jesus, I kneel before Thee and pray that Thou would impress upon my heart the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment. At the same time, with sorrow I meditate on Thy five precious wounds, having in mind the words which David spoke in prophecy: "They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones."

Divine Praises

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.
May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament
Be praised, adored and loved
With grateful affection at every moment
In all the tabernacles of the world
Even to the end of time. Amen.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Paying long overdue homage to an American hero.

The York Dispatch: Headstone to mark grave of one of the first black Army officers

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- In an unmarked grave in a grassy corner of small cemetery lie the remains of Lt. Stephen Swails, one of the first black commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.

Although almost a forgotten footnote in history, Swails served with the 54th Massachusetts in the black regiment's desperate attack on Confederate Battery Wagner in 1863 -- an attack recalled in the movie "Glory."

Swails, who was born in Columbia, Pa., would survive the Civil War to become a state senator, a lawyer, University of South Carolina trustee and mayor of Kingstree.

And next week, re-enactors portraying members of the 54th Massachusetts will join historians and public officials to dedicate a stone marker at Swails' grave more than a century after his death.

The Oct. 28 ceremony caps a two-day commemoration of Swails' life sponsored by the new African-American Historical Alliance, a group working to increase the awareness of the involvement of blacks in the Civil War and Reconstruction in South Carolina.

"What we are doing in terms of recognizing him is reaching back to a part of our state history that is not often talked about," said Michael Allen of the National Park Service in Charleston.

"The African-Americans that were part of the new South Carolina after the war were very extraordinary folks," he said.

Researchers determined where Swails' grave was in the black cemetery by using old records from the Avery Institute for African-American History at the College of Charleston, said Krista Robertson, a spokeswoman for the alliance.

Across the street is Magnolia Cemetery, which has a section where more than 1,70 0 Confederates are buried. In another section of Magnolia are the remains of crews of the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine which was the first in history to sink an enemy warship.

Swails was born in 1832, the son of a black father and white mother. By 1860, he was working at a hotel in Cooperstown, N.Y., and he married.

In 1863, he enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts and became a first sergeant. He survived the attack on Wagner but in February 1864 was wounded at the Battle of Olustee in northern Florida where the 54th Massachusetts also fought.

Swails was then promoted to second lieutenant by Massachusetts' governor John Andrews although the Army did not recognize the promotion until the following year.

After the war, Swails was employed for the Freedman's Bureau in Charleston and worked in Kingstree.

He also married a woman from the Charleston area and had four children. It's not known what happened to his first wife, said Billy Jenkinson, a Kingstree attorney who has extensively studied Swails' life.

Swails was a delegate to the South Carolina constitutional convention and became a state senator. He also served as a delegate to three Republican national conventions and was one of the first blacks elected to the Electoral College.

But when whites came back into power at the end of Reconstruction, Swails resigned from the Senate.

"He was politically active in Williamsburg County and was told to leave under the threat of death," Jenkinson said.

As whites took back power Swails simply "was black and he didn't belong," Jenkinson said. "He was never accused through all of Reconstruction of doing anything wrong."

Later, Swails worked in Washington for the Postal Service and Treasury Department. He took ill in 1899 and returned home to Kingstree where he died the next year.

He was probably buried in Charleston because that's where his wife's family's burial plot was, Jenkinson said.

"Turn-of-the-century Charleston was not a prosperous place. A lot of cemeteries used wooden headstones," said Jenkinson, adding it was unlikely there was ever a stone marking Swails' grave.

"By this time next week there will be," he said.

On the Web: African American Historical Alliance: www.aahasc.org.

Ann Coulter is the enemy of the weak-minded totalitarians among us.

Only Ann dares put the left-fascist thugs in their places.

O.J. Trials for Terrorists by Ann Coulter

The Democrats claim they want to treat terrorism as a criminal law problem, but when we give them an American citizen convicted of aiding terrorists -- as happened this week -- a Democrat judge gives her a slap on the wrist. Or he was going to give her a wrist slap until someone told him that wrist-slapping was banned under the Geneva Conventions, so he let the wrist off with a warning.

Last year, a New York jury found Lynne Stewart guilty of helping her former client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with his Egyptian-based group of murderous terrorists, appropriately known as "the Islamic Group."

The blind sheik needed to instruct his followers to abandon a truce and resume murdering innocents, but he couldn't get the message through because, by sheer coincidence, he was in prison for conspiring to murder innocents here in America by plotting the first World Trade Center bombing. So Stewart and a "translator" met with her former client in prison and took his messages for transmission to his followers in Egypt.

With the full constitutional protections Democrats want for terrorists in Guantanamo, Stewart was convicted by a New York jury last year.

This week, Judge John Koeltl -- appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994 -- spurned the prosecution's request for a 30-year sentence and gave Stewart 28 months for being a terrorist's mule. Now she'll clog up the criminal justice system with endless appeals for the next several years -- using procedures that liberals also want for Guantanamo detainees.

At Stewart's sentencing, the judge noted that the defendant's actions had not resulted in any deaths. I'll have to remember that in case I'm ever on trial for attempted murder. "Hey, your honor, did I mention that the guy lived? Yeah, the darn gun jammed on me. Go figure, huh?"

In rejecting a 30-year sentence in favor of a 28-month sentence, the judge commended Stewart for her "public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation" for representing members of the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground. In a sane world, that would have justified a longer sentence, not a shorter one.

Amen to that, Sister!

If only Democrats could turn the entire war on terrorism over to the courts, they could release terrorists and terrorist sympathizers with wild abandon -- and Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton would never have to take a position.

When Americans are allowed to vote, a fireman's vote counts as much as George Soros' vote. But if liberals can just get terrorists into the judicial system, a Clinton-appointed judge can rule on a defense funded by George Soros -- precisely what happened in Stewart's case. Note that even in liberal New York City, average citizens on the jury voted to convict Stewart, despite her Soros-funded defense.

Democrats run apparently sane candidates for office, like James Webb in Virginia and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, who can puff up their chests and pretend they want to pursue terrorists -- while carping about any and all military action in the terrorists' general direction. Instead, let's turn terrorists over to courts full of Clinton and Carter judges! Democratic candidates get to look tough, and the terrorists go scot-free.

Exactly.

It would be frightening enough to treat terrorism as a criminal law problem if it were Republicans saying it. But these are Democrats. Their idea of a major criminal case is Tom DeLay's campaign treasurer accidentally depositing a campaign contribution into a checking account rather than a savings account.

By contrast, terrorists imprisoned in Guantanamo for trying to kill Americans must be treated as innocent little lambs. Oh, to be there when Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is exonerated due to previously unavailable "DNA evidence"!

After President Bush signed a law this week providing for military tribunals for terrorists being held at Guantanamo and prohibiting their torture, Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin said, "We will look back on this day as a stain on our nation's history." (Note to Democrats: It's still too soon to use "stain" as a metaphor for a White House brouhaha.)

Democrats stood outside the White House shouting "Torture is a crime!" and "Bush is the terrorist!" Yep, these are the people who claim they're going to keep us all safe, America. Everybody good with that?

Gen. George Washington tried Major John Andre, Benedict Arnold's British co-conspirator, by military tribunal and ordered Andre hanged within 10 days of his capture. Nazi saboteurs, including an American citizen, captured on U.S. soil during World War II were tried in secret by military commission and promptly executed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Nuremberg trials were a form of military tribunal.

But Democrats think military tribunals aren't good enough for the terrorists plotting to kill Americans today. Liberals are going to make the terrorists love us! What better way to start than with criminal trials in front of judges like John Koeltl?

Pope Benedict XVI on Faith and Politics.

ZENIT: Politics Shouldn't Undercut Life or Family, Says Pope

VERONA, Italy - Benedict XVI reminded politicians, particularly Catholics, that their choices and programs cannot go against human life or the family.

The Pope's appeal resonated today in Verona, where the Church in Italy is holding its national ecclesial congress on the theme "Witnesses of the Risen Jesus, Hope of the World."

Addressing more than 2,700 people, including bishops and delegates from all the Italian dioceses, the Holy Father dedicated an important part of his address to Christian commitment in politics.

According to Benedict XVI, it is necessary to address with "determination and clarity the risk of political and legislative options that go against fundamental values and anthropological and ethical principles rooted in the human being's nature."

The Pope pointedly referred "to the defense of human life in all its phases, from its conception to natural death, and the promotion of the family founded on marriage."

This implies avoiding the introduction "in public ordering of other forms of union that will contribute to destabilize [the family], obscuring its peculiar character and irreplaceable social role," he said.

Public worth

The Holy Father also clarified how the relationship must be between the Church and politics.

Christ "came to save the real and concrete man, who lives in history and the community; therefore, from the beginning, Christianity and the Church have also had a public dimension and worth," the Pope recalled.

Jesus Christ "brought a novelty to relations between religion and politics, which has opened the way to a more human and free world, through mutual distinction and autonomy between the state and the Church, between what is Caesar's and what is God's," Benedict XVI noted.

Religious freedom itself, "which we experience as a universal value, particularly necessary in today's world, has its historical root here," he added. "Hence, the Church is not and does not seek to be a political agent. At the same time, she is profoundly concerned for the good of the political community, whose soul is justice."

In this connection, the Pontiff explained, the Church offers a decisive contribution.

"Christian faith purifies reason and helps it to be itself," he said. "With its social doctrine, argued from what is in conformity with the human being's nature, the Church contributes to make that which is just to be effectively recognized and then also realized.

"Indispensable for this objective are the spiritual and moral energies that allow the demands of justice to be placed above personal interests, or a social category, or even a state."

The Holy Father added: "The immediate task of action in the political field, to build a just order in society, does not correspond to the Church as such, but to the lay faithful, who act as citizens on their own responsibility."

Sadly, this is desperately needed.

The over/under on how many times the Sacrament of Penance is mentioned in this forthcoming document: 2.

ZENIT: Vote Planned on Guidelines for Holy Communion

During their annual meeting next month the U.S. bishops will vote on a statement designed to help Catholics properly prepare to receive holy Communion.

The proposed document, "'Happy Are Those Who Are Called To His Supper': On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist," is not intended to be a technical document for bishops, pastors or ministers.

Rather, it is addressed to all the faithful and suitable for individual reading, parish study groups, and other education programs.

Organized as a series of questions and answers, the statement explores topics such as what the Catholic Church believes about the Eucharist, who may receive holy Communion, and how Catholics can prepare to receive the sacrament more worthily.

Try going to Confession first. It has worked for saints and sinners alike for two thousand years.

The statement reiterates Church teaching that with "few exceptions, only those who are members of the Catholic Church may receive holy Communion at a Catholic Eucharist."

Huh?

Catholics should refrain from holy Communion, according to the statement, when they lack adherence to what the Church authoritatively teaches on matters of faith and morals or when a person is publicly known to have committed serious sin.

The bishops will meet Nov. 13-16 in Baltimore.

Nancy Pelosi: Union busting multimillionairess.

Peter Schweizer of FrontPageMagazine.com rips the kindly liberal dowager empress mask off La Pelosi and exposes the robber baroness who eats poor kids for breakfast underneath.

Do As I Say....

...We also have people like Hillary Clinton, Barbara Streisand or Nancy Pelosi. Some of these people on the liberal left actually are in positions of power and authority. When it comes to debating them and arguing with them, you probably have had the same experience I have, and that is that oftentimes people on the liberal left pose as our moral superiors...

I want to get to Pelosi, but in this article Mr. Schweizer also exposes the blatant hypocrisy of Senator Murder, Ralph Nader, and The World's Fattest Hypocrite, Michael Moore.

I have another section I like to call, “Workers of the World Unite Somewhere Else.” This is where we find Nancy Pelosi—Democrat leader in the House, the best friend of labor unions you can imagine. She says that labor unions are vital to negotiating good wages and working conditions. She won the Cesar Chavez award from the United Farmworkers Union in 2003. Remember that, the United Farmworkers Union. She is the top recipient of PAC contributions from the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.

What’s interesting about that is, there were several strikes a few years ago in San Francisco, where she came down strongly on the side of the hotel employees and restaurant employees union and campaigned aggressively for them against other hotels. Of course she is the most reliable vote in Congress for organized labor.

What’s interesting about Nancy Pelosi is that she and her husband not only are very influential in the Democrat Party, they’re very wealthy. With Nancy Pelosi, her commitment to organized labor essentially ends when it comes to her own businesses. Nancy Pelosi and her husband own a Napa Valley vineyard that’s worth about $25 million. They grow very expensive grapes for very expensive wines, and they don’t use members of the United Farm Workers to pick their grapes. This winner of the Cesar Chavez award hires only hire non-union contractors.

There are plenty of union contractors in Napa Valley and there are other wineries that use them, its’ just that the Pelosis don’t have happen to among them. They also sell their grapes to non-union wineries. They recently held investments in two other wine businesses that were also strictly non-union.

But it gets even worse than that. Nancy Pelosi and her husband also own a chain of restaurants and a hotel in Napa Valley, California. Despite her public commitment to the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union, you better not join that union and work for the Pelosis, because you will end up getting fired. For example, they are partners in a hotel with 250 employees, which is strictly non-union. They are among the very few owners of Piati, a chain of Italian restaurants with 900 employees. Again, if you try to join the union when you work for the Pelosis in their restaurant, you will be fired.

One other issue for Nancy Pelosi. I hate to pick on her, but it’s just so inviting. As they say in the military, it’s a target-rich environment. With Nancy Pelosi, another big issue is the environment. She always makes statements that, with us, the environment is not an issue, it’s an ethic, it’s a value. Which is a nice way of saying, “I love the environment, but not when it comes to our own businesses.” A lot of people don’t realize that, in 1996, Nancy Pelosi and her husband and fewer than 10 other partners wanted to build a golf course and country club outside of San Jose, California, called the CordeValle Country Club. In order to get approval to build on these 275 acres, they had to comply with some very stringent county environmental regulations. Now the California tiger salamander and the Western pond turtle are apparently endangered species and they’re very, very common on these 275 acres that the Pelosis wanted to develop.

So the agreement they struck with local regulators was, we’ll build the golf course, we’ll set up some holding ponds and we’ll create a natural habitat to make sure that these environmental endangered species survive.

Of course, they built the golf course. It opened in 2000. If you want to join, the membership is $250,000. But they never followed the environmental regulations. The ponds were never built for these endangered species. For seven years, they also failed to file any of the environmental reports required by the California Fish and Wildlife Commission. A 2004 County Environmental Compliance Report found all kinds of environmental problems on the Pelosis’ golf course.

Remember with Nancy Pelosi, her commitment to the environment is not just an issue, it’s an ethic and a value. What does that actually mean in practical terms? Did they turn around and build this habitat and comply? No, they solved the problem the old-fashioned way: they hired lobbyists and they got the environmental regulations changed. So if you go to the CordeValle Country Club today and play golf, it’s a wonderful course, but there will be no holding ponds. There will be no endangered species and the Pelosis seem to be quite happy with that.

Fyodor's Pro Football Picks of the Week.

Fyodor's College Football Picks of the Week.

1) The guys who set the lines are professionals. Their job is to make each game look as attractive as possible to everyone. That way they even out the amount of money bet on each side.

Instant translation: The house wins no matter who wins. That's why people get into the gambling business.

2) I am just a fan. I won't even keep track of these picks week to week if it gets too embarrassing.

3) There is no such thing as "inside information". Especially in the pros.

4) If those idiot touts on tv and in the paper were any good, they wouldn't go public with their genius. They'd sit at Harrah's sports book from open to close and then go out and buy $2,000 an hour hookers who dress like high school girls.

5) Gambling is stupid. You cannot win.

That being said, here are my college picks for this week.

Saturday 10/21

Texas (-5) at Nebraska
Take the Longhorns to cover. Big time.
FINAL: Texas 22 Nebraska 20 - Fyodor loses! (Excellent game.)

Louisville (-17.5) at Syracuse
I'll take Syracuse and the points.
FINAL: Louisville 28 Syracuse 13 - Fyodor wins!

Indiana (+30.5) at Ohio State
The spread is too big. Take the Hoosiers and the points.
FINAL: Ohio State 44 Indiana 3 - Fyodor loses! (ACK!)

Illinois (+18) at Penn State
A freshman third string QB? Take Illinois and the points.
FINAL: PSU 26 Illinois 12 - Fyodor wins! (Even with Morelli at QB, the offense stinks, but what is the defense's excuse?)

Mississippi State (+18) at Georgia
The Bulldogs stink, but I'll take them and the points on the road.
FINAL: Georgia 27 Mississippi State 24 - Fyodor wins! (heehee)

Kansas State (+14.5) at Missouri
Pick Missouri to cover.
FINAL: Missouri 41 Kansas State 21 - Fyodor wins!

Tulane (+32) at Auburn
Way too many points. Pick Tulane.
FINAL: Auburn 38 Tulane 13 - Fyodor wins! (I'll call this the Hangover Factor. The effects of good games and bad games can linger for weeks.)

UCLA (+13) at Notre Dame
I'll take UCLA and the points.
FINAL: Notre Dame 20 UCLA 17 - Fyodor wins! (Hey, Charlie! Where's the freakin' ground game?)

Washington (+23.5) at California
I'm picking too many road dogs this week, but I can't stop. Take the Huskies.
FINAL: Cal 31 Washington 24 - Fyodor wins! (Sweet.)

Boston College (+6.5) at Florida State
The Eagles have been inconsistent and they are on the road, but I'll take 'em anyway.
FINAL: BC 24 FSU 19 - Fyodor wins! (What was up with the all black unis for the 'Noles in the Florida sunshine? Of whom does Nike (the commie shoe thugs-not the Goddess of Victory) have naked photos?)

Texas Tech (-2) at Iowa State
I'm tempted to take the Cyclones, but Tech gets the nod. Stay away from this one, kiddies.
FINAL: Texas Tech 42 Iowa State 26 - Fyodor wins! (YES!)

Iowa (+13) at Michigan
The Wolverines warm up for the Buckeyes. Pick Michigan.
FINAL: Michigan 20 Iowa 6 - Fyodor wins! (A midday hot streak, which could only mean...)

TCU (-12.5) at Army
Take Army and the points.
FINAL: TCU 31 Army 17 - Fyodor loses! (...time for a loss!)

Alabama (+11) at Tennessee
The Vols cover. Big time. Take Tennessee.
FINAL: Tennessee 16 Alabama 13 - Fyodor loses! (Tennessee always seems to screw up one or two games a year.)

Oregon (-3.5) at Washington State
My Upset Special of the Week! Take the Cougars!
FINAL: Washington State 34 Oregon 23 - Fyodor wins! (Hot diggitty!)

Rutgers (+6.5) at Pittsburgh
Pitt has been playing well and will have the home field edge, but this is Rutgers' year. Take the Panthers and the points - they'll keep it close.
FINAL: Rutgers 20 Pitt 10 - Fyodor loses! (Never mind.)

Oklahoma (+14) at Colorado
I think many people are underestimating Colorado's crumminess. Pick the Sooners.
FINAL: Oklahoma 24 Colorado 3 - Fyodor wins!

Southern Mississippi (+17.5) at Virginia Tech
I would not bet this game if I were a gambler. Tech is a much better team, but there is something rotten in Blacksburg. Pick Southern Miss.
FINAL: Virginia Tech 36 Southern Miss 6 - Fyodor loses! (What was I thinking? Everything's fine at Tech!)

Texas A&M (+3.5) at Oklahoma State
The Cowboys should romp over the Aggies. Take State.
FINAL: A&M 34 Oklahoma State 33 - Fyodor loses! (That's why they call it gambling, kiddies.)

Georgia Tech (+7) at Clemson
I'll pick Clemson, unenthusiastically.
FINAL: Clemson 31 Georgia Tech 7 - Fyodor wins! (With enthusiasm! Except for those purple uniforms. They are icky.)

Air Force (-13.5) at San Diego State
Are the Aztecs that bad? I think so. Pick Air Force.
FINAL: SDSU 19 Air Force 12 - Fyodor loses! (What?)

Fresno State (+32.5) at LSU
Just for fun, I'll take the Tigers to cover the huge number.
FINAL: LSU 38 Fresno State 6 - Fyodor loses! (Drat! Foiled by another hook!)

DAY 58: PLUTO HELD HOSTAGE

Support hot Turkish babes: Sedef Avci.

From the pages of The King Abdullah Gazette:

I guess what I am trying to say is this: Who cares where they're from? Look at them, you fool!

BTW, did I mention that I LOVE negative political ads?

Read about the history of American political campaigns, kiddies. Sometimes, you gotta tear the bastards down.

Wow. A judge with a conscience!

Choke on this one, Rendell, you fat crook!

The York Dispatch: Judge files lawsuit so she can give up raise

PITTSBURGH -- Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin has filed a lawsuit to refuse her 11 percent pay raise.

Orie Melvin said she does not want the raise, which increased her annual salary from $145,658 to $162,100.

Only Slow Eddie Rendell thinks she can't put her kids through college on 145 Gs a year.

The raise was part of a legislative pay hike enacted in July 2005, but repealed in November 2005, after public criticism. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reinstated the raises for judges last month.

Orie Melvin had previously asked that her pay be reduced, but court officials cited "legal, policy and administrative considerations" in refusing to do so. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has told Melvin she can give back the money, but that she would be taxed as though she accepted it and would also receive a bump in her pension, according to her attorney.

The suit said nothing in the Supreme Court's ruling requires Orie Melvin to take a raise she does not want.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Commonwealth Court, named the state Treasurer's Office and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts. Officials with each department declined to comment.

Beauty is a universal. It is the same all the time and everywhere.

I know I do not have to prove that to you good little kiddies out there, but not everybody who visits my idiot corner of Bloggerdom gets it, you know.

Remember the green-skinned Orion Slave Girls from Star Trek? Hotter than heck, right? And they were really green.

Christina Ricci as an Orion Slave Girl.

But, remember guys, they are still females. In the Star Trek episode "The Menagerie", the Commodore warned us:

"They're like animals. Vicious. Seductive. They say no human male can resist them."

Reese Witherspoon as an Orion Slave Girl.

Featured Post

It seems Pope Francis needs to brush up on his Tertullian!